Toronto the worst city for contractor renovations

TORONTO — Toronto has been named the city where people encounter the most problems with renovation contractors in comparison to Montreal, Vancouver, Calgary and national data, indicates a Reno-Assistance survey conducted by Ipsos across Canada.

Key survey findings state Toronto is where it is most difficult to find a trustworthy renovation contractor in Canada, with 78 per cent of respondents finding it difficult and 25 per cent finding it very difficult.

The report also noted homeowners have a higher probability of encountering more than one major problem with a contractor on a single project, such as stolen deposits, poor finishing, sloppy work needing to be redone or theft of belongings.

Other survey results highlighted the following about Toronto:

• It’s the Canadian city where people are most likely to have their deposits stolen (nine per cent);
• People are most likely to get unforeseen extras billed to them (27 per cent);
• Customers are most likely to wait for a contractor who doesn’t show up without advanced notification (14 per cent); and
• People are most likely to need work redone due to sloppiness (22 per cent).

Overall, 63 per cent of Torontonians experienced problems on their most recent project with a contractor, states a release, adding that number jumps to 79 per cent for projects greater than $20,000 carried out in the last three years, meaning if one begins such a project, there’s a three in four chance they’ll face a potentially damaging financial issue.

In addition, more than two-thirds of respondents do not verify that the company they are working with legally exists, has proper insurance, a valid licence, a clean legal history and no criminal record.

More than four in five people do not make any verification whatsoever regarding the financial health of their contractor before entrusting them with projects.

The lowest confidence levels found in the survey were towards stonemasons at 27 per cent.

Interior designers, roofers and general contractors came in with trust levels of 31 per cent, 32 per cent and 33 per cent, respectively and architects came in at 38 per cent.